Wednesday, January 16

Free Furniture is Good Furniture

Am I right? Okay, maybe not always. But a lot of the time a free piece of furniture just needs a little work to be awesome! And actually, every piece in today's post I got for free at some point in the last few years.  But even if you're not finding free pieces on the curb, it's amazing what you can do with the things you already have if you just look at them a little differently. I just learned that lesson AGAIN after months of wishing for a bigger bookcase in Baby B's room and a bigger nightstand in the master bedroom and not being able to afford them. But we'll get to that in a minute.

My most recent freebie was a sweet mid century modern dresser. A friend got it for free but wasn't up for making the repairs, so she generously passed it on to me! A few nails and a little glue later, all the drawers are working again. :) Once it was fixed I slipped it right into the office between the bookcases. I'd been wanting some closed storage to break up all the shelving, and this seemed like the perfect fit. Granted it still needs some work in the paint department, but for free I can totally work with that!



And the bookcase that used to be there? It was the perfect thing for Baby B's room! With $0 spent we slid it across the hall and solved the toy storage problem. I do plan to repaint it. I'm not sure what color yet.... Any suggestions?


We also moved all the books to a yard sale basket at the foot of the crib. Baby B loves being able to rifle through there and pick one out. :)


But wait, there's more! Remember the small bookcase thing that used to be there? And remember how I wanted a new nightstand? Boom baby! Lots of room for books and even a big basket (that currently holds nothing but unmatched socks.... so there are probably like 20 complete sets in there by now).


So if you're on a tight furniture budget, be sure to keep your eyes open. Freebies can pop up anywhere! Our desk was found on a curb, Baby B's old dresser is was passed down through the family, this dresser was a freebie from a friend who got it from a friend and passed it on to me, the bookcase was from another friend who didn't want to pack it when she moved, and the nightstand was a freebie I found in the campus classifieds a couple months before we were married (so it's been with us 5 years!).

You can also stretch your budget by working with what you have. I (obviously) forget this all the time. I had the two things I needed right here in the house, and I had no idea! When I moved in the new dresser and displaced the bookcase, it opened door after door. If I'd kept my eyes open I probably could have figured that out weeks ago! But I kind of have an excuse... I'm usually keeping my eyes on this boy:

Wearing his baby carrier... but refusing to ride in it. Stinker.

Oh, buddy, I'm not sure you want to stay in there....

What's the best thing you ever found for free?

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